


A costly delay

by aimeewrites



Series: Atonement [4]
Category: Gentleman Jack (TV)
Genre: BDSM, Discipline, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimeewrites/pseuds/aimeewrites
Summary: When Anne lingers in town, she forgets there will be a price to pay
Relationships: Anne Lister (1791-1840)/Ann Walker (1803-1854)
Series: Atonement [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1438501
Comments: 10
Kudos: 36





	A costly delay

_Rainy, frosty day today. Had my usual for breakfast – an egg, toast, a cup of tea. Did not have time to write in this journal yesterday evening, so I must apply myself to it forthwith._

_Yesterday morning was a fine day – temperature acceptable and wind moderate. Had breakfast with A- & my aunt in the morning & then did the accounts. After dinner, A- asked if I wanted to go riding with her but I declined. I intended to go walking & to drop by several tenants – the Jones to see if George Jones had repaired his roof & the Chapmans as their little girl is apparently sickly. A- did not seem pleased by my choice but I cannot always yield to her fancies. On my way to the Jones, I decided I might as well go to Halifax afterwards to see Mrs Bunyan – she is always glad to see me, or should I say hear me, as her eyesight is mostly gone. I promised last time I would bring her some wine jelly & since Cordingley made several pots, I can fulfil my promise. She seemed most pleased to see me & offered me a cup of tea and cake. I hesitated, having promised A- I would be back before dark as my aunt worries otherwise but I felt it more civil to accept & believed A- would forgive me. After tea, Mrs Bunyan remembered she had wanted to shew [sic] me a book her husband had bought in France in 1780 & I did not want to disoblige, so I stayed. When I had the book in my hands, I discovered it was the Dict. raisonné universel d’histoire naturelle by Valmont de Bomare, a work I had tried to obtain without success. I spent some time perusing it & finally Mrs Bunyan told me to take it with me. When I took my leave it was pitch-dark outside & I realised I had not only missed tea but would be late for supper too. I reproached myself for having been so careless but it was too late – I set for home at my fastest pace, intent on coming back before my aunt sent a servant after me. I arrived at Shibden a little before 8 & found they had waited for me to eat. I apologised most humbly to my aunt & A-. My aunt forgave me readily enough but I saw A- would not be so easily satisfied & a shiver ran down my spine. I scarcely touched the meal – my appetite had disappeared when A- had glared at me & although I knew I had brought it on myself & I would feel better afterwards, I wished I had not stayed so long in town. I had a little soup with bread & two spoonfuls of stewed apples before we retired to the parlour. My aunt settled near the fire with a book & I was preparing to do the same when A- spoke up. _

“I wonder if you would come with me to the stables, Anne – I noticed this afternoon that Pepper was limping slightly from his hindleg – I want to check on him.”

I nodded and followed Ann out of the room. I wondered whether the pony really was lame or if she had found no other way of getting me to come with her, but when we arrived at the stable, she did go to check on the grey pony. I went with her and felt the leg – it did feel a little swollen but I could not detect any fracture. We closed the box and I was going to walk out of the stables when Ann’s voice drew me back: “Do not think we’ve finished, Anne. Come back here!” I swallowed hard and turned to face her. She left me standing there, eyes down and walked to the saddle room and came back with two implements I was all too familiar with. Although I knew the sting of the riding crop could bring me as much pleasure as pain, the saddle strap I eyed with more apprehension. I had felt it but once and well remembered the consequences. My behaviour of the afternoon, however, weighted heavily on my conscience. I had broken my promise to my wife and worried my dear aunt unnecessarily, all because I had been self-absorbed and had acted selfishly. Whatever justifications I could find for staying and looking at the book I knew were mere excuses. I could have gone back another day and it would not have disappeared. If I had to be completely honest with myself, I had to admit that the presence of Mrs Bunyan’s niece, Miss Langford, at tea, had weighed in my decision to remain. A most attractive and well-read young lady with whom had much enjoyed conversing…And now I had to pay the piper. I bowed my head and waited for Ann to deliver my sentence.

“You had promised me you would come home before dark, Lister. You broke your promise. I was worried, and so was your aunt.”

“I am not a child, Ann – I can take care of myself!” replied I impetuously. I immediately regretted my words and my tone.

“Oh – like you did last month?”, Ann replied bitingly.

I felt myself redden and hated that I couldn’t control my blushes. I slowly sank to my knees on the straw, and felt the cold stones bite my legs through my dress. Last month... I had been attacked on my way home from town and although I had been called names before, this time the assailant had been armed with a stick and he had landed a few good blows on my face, arms and ribs. I had come home bruised and dishevelled and had not managed to hide from Ann. She had been terrified. “I’m so sorry, Ann – I – I should have kept my promise.”

“You should have, indeed. You know the consequences, Lister.”

Still staring at the ground, I risked a kiss to her hand and tried to rest my face on her gown but she stepped away. I sighed – I did know the consequences – I had agreed to them even before we got married, and I knew what I had to do.

“Please chastise me as you see fit, Miss Walker.” I could never bring myself to say that as more than a murmur, but I was counting on her no to make me repeat it.

“You are going to get the crop for being late, and the strap for breaking your word, Lister. Bend over the saddle rack!”

My throat dry, I whispered “Thank you, Miss Walker” as I walked to the saddle rack and slowly lowered myself onto it, grabbing the rough wood to steady myself. I felt Ann’s on my back, a brief caress to calm me down – I then realised I was shivering in expectation. Then I felt my dress being folded on my back and the cold on my drawers. I held my breath, wondering if I would be allowed to keep them, but I was soon disappointed. I knew Ann would rather strike me on the bare so as to see the result of the blows, but I never ceased to hope… I heard the riding crop slash the empty air and my skin tingled in anticipation. When it landed on my behind, I stifled a gasp and gripped the wood tighter. Once, twice, three times… I counted in my head, unwilling to enjoy what was meant as a punishment. A moistness between my legs told me my body had other intentions, and I moaned a little. Finally, after thirty strokes, the chastisement stopped and I took a shaky breath. “Thank you, Ma’am”, I repeated softly.

“Stand up and face me, Lister”

I stood up and came to face my wife and disciplinarian. I stared at her boots penitently, the ice in her voice telling me I was not yet forgiven.

“You have been punished for your lax timekeeping, Lister. If this happens again, you will not like the consequences so much.”

I blushed – she had noticed my arousal. I wished her hand would come and release me of the sensations I was experimenting. I wished we were back in our bed and I could kiss her at will, disrobe her with my eyes and then my fingers, slip them in her folds and…

“Lister! Are you listening?”

My body snapped to attention again: “A thousand apologies, Ma’am. I will not be late again, I promise.” Maybe she has forgotten…

“Now brace yourself against the beam. I want you to hold tight. If you let go, you will get extras. And be quiet!”

The last admonishment was both foreboding and unnecessary. I knew it would hurt and I would have to muster all my self-control not to break position. I would not cry out, however, for fear the servants should hear us. She rested the wide strap on my burning behind and whispered in my ear: “Be brave, my love – it will be over soon.” My spirits soared at her words and my core pulsed in reply. Having to quell my urges hurt more than the aftermath of the blows and my arms gripped the beam tighter, helpless, knowing I could do nothing to satisfy my needs. I closed my eyes and imagined how my hands would caress her cool skin, how she would soothe my burning behind with kisses, how we would...

“Oww!” I did not scream – most unladylike, and I could not bear the humiliation if the servants heard us, but I could not help it – that first lash brought me back to earth in a trice. I felt every inch of the welt forming, that searing line of pain branding my skin. My heart was beating a tattoo and I could hear my breathing quicken and becoming shallow…Soon I would not be able to concentrate- I would be lost in that floating feeling I feared and craved in equal measures. I forced myself to deepen my intakes of breath and tried to ground myself back in reality. The second lash landed and I groaned softly, gripping the beam for dear life, my knuckles white. I could not lose control of my senses, of myself – I had to atone, this was my penance. Over and over the strap fell. The dampness in my drawers heightened, I gritted my teeth against the pain and I tried to count to keep myself from vanishing in that sweet place where pain became pleasure – where punishment became reward. Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three…

I failed. When I felt her hands on my shoulders and her lips in my neck, I had drowned in a deep pool of unconsciousness, and had I taken a hundred lashes, I would not have known. Suddenly my body turned and my lips locked with hers, I devoured them with an insatiable lust before I remembered exactly what had happened. Ann still held the strap in her hands and I threw myself on my knees to end the chastisement in the proper fashion, kissing the instrument of redemption and the hands that had wielded it. The soft, genteel hands that caressed my hair as I sobbed from desire and sheer exhaustion.

_Had a good sleep last night. A very fine kiss this morning before breakfast – A- let me grubble her with great mutual benefits & I believe my soreness will no longer be an issue after that. Breakfast – two eggs, a slice of ham & tea. A- wants to go riding & me to go along. I cannot say no & yet fear the saddle. Changed my dress to put on my thicker skirt – it will help little but might soften the pain. I will have atoned for my lateness a thousand times over after that ride. A- says it will help me remember she had forgotten me. It will be a stiff reminder indeed. _


End file.
